_selene_'s reviews
251 reviews

The Seventh Horse And Other Stories by Katherine Talbot, Leonora Carrington, Marina Warner, Anthony Kerrigan

dark mysterious

2.75

Carrington's short fairytales and stories in this collection complement her artworks with her usual blend of Surrealist elements such as lush natural landscapes invoked with rich senses, pagan symbolism, dream logic, and peeking behind the artificial curtain of human society to see the dark, carnal chaos behind. Carrington pays ode to her fascination with Mexican culture as well. 

Unfortunately, like many texts trying to evoke the illogical and elusive pattern of dreams, this also falls into the more confusing and ill-reading camp. Even if I tried to let go of my need for structured narrative and following the flow of the writing , it was still more like a string of images messily tied together. 

I'm going to assume most people interested in this book are already familiar with Carrington's paintings, and the vivid singular images found in these stories do go hand in hand with her art. However I would say image-based are Carrington's strengths rather than word-based.

Nadja by André Breton

Don't go into this expecting the surrealist fantasies of Dali's paintings or even a significant plot; this follows the Surrealist ideals from the idea of surrealism as a way of changing your perspective on the world and daily existence. Breton grapples with the age-old creative struggle of portraying a fully realised portrait of a person, so instead goes for snapshots of their interactions and walks around Paris where Nadja's personality and passions occasionally burst through to him. The noted quotes and collected drawings of her's are glimpses of her own creative inspirations; this book just made me wish she could've had a chance to be an artist such as Breton and the company they kept. 

The Sopranos by Alan Warner

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

I very much do not like the sentiment that authors can't write about identities and perspectives that they do not personally share or have experience of- a writer who only writes about what they know and never tries to step out of that is not a brave or good writer in my eyes, so I do not want to disparage the book based on the fact it's about teenage girls and it's written by a man. I could guess Warner's intentions while reading this that he wanted to portray some fun, cheeky, mischievous teenage girls who are rowdy and make dirty jokes and are not the victim of the leery men around them. However, I would say that this is one of the cases where the movie is more enjoyable than the book as on paper I found it difficult to differentiate between most of the characters (especially with the lack of descriptions and punctuation), whereas on film the actresses were able to inject some life and individuality into them. A lot of critiques of this seem to be accusing the author of fetishizing teen girls, which there are arguments for and against. Yes, they do spend the majority of the book talking about sex and who they want to have sex with and how much they want to do it. I'm guessing the intention was to subvert the typical stereotypes of teenage boys being the ones who are sex-obsessed and girls are the clean virginal ones (eg American Pie). No, Warner does not delve into the nuances and blurry complications of young girls and their sexual desires and encounters. Dodgy stories about men impregnating underage girls are sprinkled in but mostly just as a part of their banal lives, maybe to demonstrate the grim things that happen to girls that are normalised? But it's not explored and I don't think it was the aim of the book. 

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

emotional inspiring sad

4.0

Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping by Declan Wiffen, Derek Jarman, Gareth Evans, Philip Hoare, Michael Ginsborg

The story itself is only about 40 pages and is in line with many postmodern trends of its time, with its breathless surreal gallery of pop culture icons and bizarre imagery, like a Warhol version of Fear and Loathing. With his outsider's perspective Jarman uses the shiny idealism of Hollywood and advertisements to satirise the 20th century American sentiment of celebrity and capitalism, interposed with surreal fluid imagery. The additional essays after the story really help to bring the writing in context with Jarman's film work and personal life, which I believe is the best way to approach this story. The QR code which linked to a recording of Jarman reading the story (what the text's layout is primarily based on) was a nice touch and a good way of mingling books and technology. My only wish was for the story to have been more structured like a poem rather than from a transcript; the continuous flow of writing made it a bit difficult for the imagery to stick on me and have a required effect. Otherwise this is definitely interesting for those interested in Jarman's work and activism.

Crash by J.G. Ballard

challenging medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

3.0

I understand Ballard's message and themes here on the intersection of technology and biology, the obsession with celebrity, and the primal intermingling simultaneous desire for deah and sex; however multiple pages of repetitive passages on bodily fluids and car parts just made this tedious to get through. I have no idea what the plot was or what was happening. Ballard's writing sublimely washes over the reader, leaving them a dishelleved mess sometimes almost like Nabokov, but this does not have the tightness or control that Nabokov has. I see the appeal, it's just not for me 

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Devil House by John Darnielle

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.5